The Works Café — Restaurant in Concord

I wish I could give 2 reviews: one 5-star for the café and employees and one 1-star review for Tom, one of the middle managers. Unfortunately though, only the 1-stars get any attention.

I went here to work from my computer as I have done many times before and I got there around 8:00am, the table across from me got there around 9:30. I don’t know when Tom got there, but it was after I ordered my breakfast and coffee. Around 12:30 I sensed someone standing over my shoulder staring at my computer for about 15-20 seconds and not saying anything. I turned around and Tom said “sorry to bother you but just to let you know we have a 30-minute limit for seating.” I was taken back a little and responded “I’m sorry, what was that?” Tom then said “we have a 30-minute limit for seating. When we have a lot of people in line and waiting for seating, we need to turn the tables over” or something along those lines. I felt singled out - he came all the way over here to tell me this but started leaving the area without saying anything to the 9:30 table that was sitting across from me (a table of 4 seemingly pleasant older women with just a single coffee between them). Before I could say anything else, Tom began walking away. I began saying “excuse me” to grab his attention, but he just kept leaving. I then said “excuse me….excuse me…excuse me” but still, just kept walking away. And I know he could hear me (unless he’s hard of hearing) because the 2 employees at the register he was walking near and some of the customers standing in line all looked at me as I was saying “excuse me”.

I just laughed to myself a little after that; I hadn’t interacted with this person at all that day and he seemingly had something against me. Nonetheless, I gathered my things after about 10 minutes and ordered another sandwich to go. After I ordered I asked who that gentlemen was (Tom) and asked to speak to his boss. In a very polite way I asked Tom’s boss about the 30-minute rule and she said it was not a thing. I proceeded to tell her about the interaction I had with Tom and she said she’d have a talk with him. Fair enough.

When I went to pick up my sandwich to go, Tom was the one who handed it to me. So I took the opportunity and asked Tom where the 30-minute rule came from and he told me “Oh, it’s just one of our policies. We just need to make sure new customers have a seat.” Well that’s contrary to what his boss just told me so I said that to him. Tom then quipped back and said “well it’s a 30-minute rule we have during lunch. It’s ok, I’ll have a talk with her(his boss)”. Again, Tom seemed to be singling me out. He also seemed like a grossly unpleasant person so I just took my sandwich and left.

I don’t know what Tom’s problem is but he should treat customers better. He seemed to fabricate a policy and change it as he pleased, insinuating it’s an all-day policy in the beginning then changing it to a lunch policy afterwards, and he seems to have something against young fathers using the café to work from their computers. Needless to say, if there is a policy like this, the café should have it visible somewhere. And if there isn’t a policy, somebody should have a talk with Tom. They should also maybe have their managers aligned on what their restaurant policies are.

Anyways, great food of course, good employees and good head manager. But...

We stopped by this place on the way to Montréal from Salem. A lot of great reviews so we decided to give it a try. The store was cute. The girl at the cash register was nice. The coffee and sandwiches were good, toasted multi grain bagel was great, the cookies and Cinnamon roll were bland though ( a little disappointing since they looked really good).

Thing that really turned us down was a women at the counter who called customers’ names when the orders were ready. She was extremely rude. I ordered a toasted bagel with an iced latte, my latter came out quick, my husband asked if he could grab that latte for me first even though the bagel has not come out yet. She started to be so rude about it after. I went back to check if the bagel was ready after another 10-15 minutes since all my friends who ordered after me got all their sandwiches and almost finished their meal. The women thought that I was going to grab/steal someone else food from the counter and being rude about it telling me that It was not ready. I went back to my table and continue to wait. After another couple minutes, WE heard she called my name so I went to the counter and the women said I didn’t say your name I said “XXX” and gave me a dirty look, went back to my table - upset right now…Another couple minutes passed, she called my name, she left the bagel to the very end of the counter, I didn’t even know it was mine since she was not even there to let me know. I grabbed it anyway since she was super rude about it. She was the one in the picture, behind the counter to the left. We won’t...

Definitely a happening place for food! The quality of the dishes does what some places find impossible: taking healthy, good-for-you foods and making them taste DELICIOUS!

The quinoa avocado bacon bowl was a great portion size so you don't end up feeling over-filled. The artichoke panini with roasted red peppers and pesto was also well-balanced, but the crusts on the bread were so toasted they became like bricks to eat (a bummer because the sandwich was so good and the bread so healthy that we wanted to eat all of it!).

Give yourself time for the wait because nothing fresh comes fast: orders can take 5-10 minutes or more depending on the size of your party. For us, the staff member mistakenly entered our order incorrectly, so it was not prepared in the manner we preferred. The chefs, cooks, assemblers, and order distributors worked at a great pace to keep the orders coming! The woman shouting customer names knew EVERYTHING on the menu and how it should be prepared.

BE AWARE: This appears to be a popular destination around lunch time (presumably so for breakfast, as well), so seating is at a premium. They do have outdoor seating, but the comfort of AC inside during the summer may be preferred by some. Seating is tight and it's frustrating when parties of one take up a booth for 4 or a table for 6. That's also because the 2-tops are all taken by other patrons though.

Come hungry and hopeful: the food will satisfy and you might, just maybe, get a seat from which you can enjoy your meal. Otherwise, takeaway and...